Fastener-feed mechanism



' G. W. JACQUES; FASTENER FEED MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 00131, 19:7.

Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

WITNESS drawings in which Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

unirsn STATES Parent creme.

GEORGE W'. JACQUES, OF STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGERMANU- I FACTURING COMPANY. A CORPORATION OF NE? JERSEY. I

rss'rnnnn-rnnn MECHANISM.

Application filed October 31, 1917. Serial 110. 199,500.

To all ct 20m it met-y c022 ccrn- Be it known that I, GEORGE W. Jnoonns,a citizen of the United States, residing at Stratford, in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefullm n'ovements in. Fastenen Feed Mechanisms, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Plus invention re rates to fastener feed mechanism for use withautomatic fastener setting machines and more particularly to an improvedreceptacle or hopper for holding and discharging in succession thefasteners which are to be fed to the setting mechanism.

One object of the present invention is to so construct. a fastenersupplyhop-per that it shall be free from any propensity to become choked atits discharge opening by reason of the weight of the mass of fastenerscontained therein such choking being common defect and source ofannoyance inthe operation of devices of this type as at presentemployed. Another object of the invention is to provide means forinsuring a constant supply of fasteners to the hopper, such. means inthe present disclosure comprising a secondary reservoir of largecapacity arranged to automatically feed fasteners to the hopper, itbeing understood that it is within the scope ofthe in vcntion to substitute other and equivalent means for said secondary reservoir.

Another object of the invention is to so relatively arrange the hopperand secondary reservoir as to permit at all times a free andunobstructed passage for flow of fasteners between the same, while atthe same time pro viding against any tendency toward overloading of thehopper.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention includingdesirable details of constructionsand improved combinations of partswill be herein-a 'ter more particularly described and claimed.

A. preferred embodiment of the invention is herein illustrated in theaccompanying Fig. l is a perspective viewfrom above showing the hopperand supply reservoir, portions of the hopper being broken out to i showthe interior construction Fig. 2 is a detailsectional View through thedischarge opening of the hopper, showing in section the narrow chamberor channel for fasteners. y

Fig. is a detail side elevation of the charge end of the-supplyreservoir. i

1 indicates a bracket mounted as by means of bolts 2 and 3 upon asuit-able supporting member 4% carried by the frame of the ma chine towhich the herein described mechanism is to be applied. Thebracket l ispro vided with an outwardly extending arm l said arm having at its outerextremity abearing 5 within which is mounted a sleeve-member 6.Integrally or otherwise connected to dissaid sleeve-member is a baseplate 7, such base plate forming the floor of the fastenercontaininghopper. lilounted upon said baseplate 7 in any suitable manner, as bymeans of brackets 8. screws 8 and wing nuts 8", is a cylindrical drum 8,said drum being formed at its upper end with a head or cover 9, hereinshown integral with said drum, the cover 9 being provided with anenlarged opening 10.

lVithin the sleeve d is a rotatable shaft lowerportion of the.cylindrical member 11 of the boss is a series of openings 14L, saidopenings being provided for the reception f brush tufts 15 which may besecured within said openings in any desiredmanner, as by means of setscrews 13, the rotating boss with its brush tufts thus providing anagitator for fasteners contained within the hopper.

The cylindrical drum member 8 is pro vided at one side and just abovethe base plate 7 with a discharge opening 15', the vertical extent ofwhich may be varied by means of an adjustable apronanember 16 secured inplace by set, screw 17. Mounted upon the base plate adjacentthedischarge opening as by means of brackets 19 is a support 18 for agate-membsr, said gate-member. acting to regulate the discharge offastenors from the hopper to a race way indicated generally by hereference numeral 20. y

The base plate is shown as provided at a point directly belowandextending inwardly from the dischargeiopening with a depressed area 2 1which merges at each end by means of gradual inclines, of which one isindicated at 22, into the body of the base late. As will be noted frominspection of l ig. 2 the brush tufts may be so arranged as to tend toincline downwardly with respect to the axis of rotation of the agitatingdevice, and in passing the depressed area the outer extremities of saidtufts are presented centrally of the discharge opening, thus serving tocause an equal distribution of fasteners to both the upper and lowerportions of the discharge opening. Furthermore, by the provision'of thedepressed area in the base plate adjacent the discharge opening, thevertical height and thereby the cross sectional area of the hopper atHis point is increased, serving to give greater freedom of motion to themass of fasteners which is being swept past the opening by the agitatingdevice, choking of the discharge opening by jamming of the fastenerstherein being'thus to a great extent prevented.

From inspection of Fig. 2 it will be seen that the concentric cylinders11 and 8 together with the base plate 7 form a relatively narrow chamber23 constituting a hopper of annular form. This relatively narrow chamberforms a hopper of limited capacity in which only a comparatively smallnumber of fasteners may be retained at any one time. The fasteners atthe lower portion of the hopper are not therefore subjected to anyappreciable pressure due to the weight of a large superincumbent mass offasteners thus serving to overcome a defect common to hoppers at presentemployed in which the fasteners at the lower por ion of the hopper andpassing the discharge opening are presseddown by the large mass offasteners above them which tends to cause jamming and choking at thedischarge opening. Moreover, by reason of the fact that the entire innerwall of the hopper is rotating, a more uniform agitation of fastenerscontained therein is secured, which results in providing for a freerflow of fasteners to and through the discharge opening.

As is the common practice in fastener feed hoppers the axis of thehopper herein disclosed is inclined to the vertical, thus producing aninclination of the base or floor of the hopper. As herein shown, thedischarge opening is so located that fasteners traveling by the samealong the floor of the hopper are moving along a downward incline.

At the point 24 in the top or head 9 of the drum member 8 is formed afeed opening, such opening being located above that portion of the baseof the hopper which is inclined upwardly in the direction of the travelof the fasteners passing over the same,that is to say, fasteners inpassing said feeding opening 24: are moving in an uphill direction.

Upon a suitable bracket 27 is supported a supply reservoir 25, hereinshown as a box of more or less rectangular form and of relatively largecapacity, said box being provided at 26 with a supply opening, having asuitable cover, and with a discharge opening 28 in one end of itsbottom. Sur rounding said opening :28 is an annular boss 29, said bossbeing provided at 30 with a projecting. flange or lip. In the presentdevice the box 25 is adapted to rest loosely upon the supporting bracket27, and to have itslip 8O projecting into the opening 24.- and beneaththe head 9 of the drum 8, the lip thus serving to properly register theopenings 24 and 28. -The box 25, however, is freely removable forrefilling or repairs. At the point 31 an opening has been provided inthe box 25 for inspection of the contents thereof, said opening-beingprovided with a piece of glass or other transparent medium permittingready inspection of the interior.

While the above mode of supporting said box 25 and registering theopenings 2% and 28 is a preferred arrangement it is to be understoodthat it is within the scope of this invention to employ any otherequivalent means for accomplishing the desired result.

\Vhile it has been heretofore proposed to provide fastener feed hopperswith supply reservoirs, it has in many cases been found difficult toinsure a proper flow of fasteners from said revervoir to the hopper andalthough varied expedients have been resorted to for overcoming thisdefect, such for example as manual or automatically movable valvesbetween the two receptacles, or the provision of means for adjusting onereceptacle with respect to the other, none of these so far as is knownhave been entirely satisfactory.

Experience has shown that with the hopper inclined as herein abovedescribed and with the discharge opening of the feed reservoir locatedat a point at which the fasteners in the hopper are moving in an up warddirection, the opening between the two receptacles may be left entirelyunobstructed and yet a free and constant supply of fasteners to thehopper may be secured, while at the same time avoiding any overloadingor choking of the hopper.

The above effects may be noted in feeding a hopper of usual form at thepoint indicated, but the results obtained are particularly satisfactorywhen a hopper of the type herein shown is employed, that is to say, anannular hopper having a depressed area opposite the discharge opening,the incline leading from the depressed area upwardly to the floor of thehopper accentuating, it being believed, the action. which results fromthe general upward inclination of the floor of the hopper adjacent thefeed opening.

\Vhile the above description covers a. preferred embodiment in theinvention, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is notto be limited thereby but that various changes and modifications instructure and form are embraced therein.

Having now described the invention I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States 1. A hopper for fastenersettingmachines comprising a base-member, a cylindrical drum mounted on saidbase-member and having av head provided with a relatively large centralopening affording a bearing, and a rotary imperforate cylindrical memberdisposed within said drum and fitted to said central bearing opening,said cylindrical member being coextensive in length with said drum andforming with the walls of said drum an annular fastenenreceiving space,and fastener agitating means in said space.

2. A hopper forfastener-setting machines comprising a base-member, acylindrical drum mounted on said base-member, a rotary cylindricalmember having imperforate walls between which and the walls of said drumis formed an annular fastener-receiving space, said base beingprovidedwith a central opening affording a bearing, means extending through saidbearing and connected to said cylindrical member for rotating the same,and fastener-agitating means in said fastener-receiving space.

3. A hopper for fastener feed mechanism comprising a base member. a drummounted thereon, a rotatable shaft passing through said base and intothe drum, an enlarged boss upon said shaft within the drum. said boss incooperation with the drum forming a relatively narrow annular channel ofsubstantially uniform width for the reception of fasteners and means foragitating fasteners in said channel.

a. An annular hopper comprising, in combination, a base member, a fixedcylindrical member forming the outer wall and having a dischargeopening, a constantly rotating imperforate cylindrical member formingthe inner wall and agitating means for said hopper.

5. In combination in a fastener feeding mechanism, a hopper comprising adrum having an opening in its upper surface, a detachable fastenerreservoir having a discharge opening in its lower surface, and a lipprojecting from said lower surface and adapted to enter the drum and toengage beneath the upper surface thereof whereby to ensure registry ofsaid openings.

6. In combination in a fastener feeding mechanism, a hopper providing achamber for fasteners, a base or floor for said hopper having anupwardly inclined portion, means for moving said fasteners on said base,and means for supplying fasteners to said hopper at a point adjacentsaid inclined portion and where said fasteners are being moved upwardly.

'7. A cylindrical hopper for fastener setting machines, having aninclined base or floor, a rotary agitator within said hopper acting tomove fasteners contained therein in a circular path over saidbase orfloor, and means for supplying additional fasteners to said hopper at apoint at which the path of movement of the fasteners contained thereinis upwardly inclined.

8. In combination, in a fastener mechanism, a hopper providing a chamberfor fasteners, a relatively stationary floor for said hopper havinghigher and lower portions, means for moving said fasteners from one tothe other of said floor portions. and means for supplying fasteners tosaid hopper at a point where such motion is taking place.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE W. JACQUES.

